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new 2011 MacBook pro get very hot

90 degree base temp

Using Chrome as a browser with 15 tabs open, and just reading on the forums for over 45 minutes, the base temperature is around 90 degrees F and the CPU is around 120F. The fans are running around 2000 rpm and cannot be heard. Watching a movie will increase the temp and the fan speed.
 
It's only been a problem when I am working on an ice sculpture and using the MBP to google "ice sculpture tutorial".
 
This topic really won't die... Yes, new MBPs run on a warm side. If you plan on encoding HD video on your lap, better wear thick pants. As others have said, these are powerful computers, with quad cores and Sandy Bridge. They do get a little toasty, and a little loud at 6,200rpm under load. However, show me another laptop with that kind of power that doesn't.
 
snaky69 said:
It is not a heating problem, it is a perceived heating problem, much different. Nor is it a problem in the first place. The heat is a byproduct of having a very powerful computer in a thin and elegant aluminum casing.

Want a cool notebook with the same power but half the heat? Easy, but the case'll be 3-4 inches thick and fans will be buzzing themselves into oblivion.

Bottom line is, if you actually use your computer, things will get hot, that is the case with any laptop, of any brand.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is the real question - is it a real problem, or only a perceived one?
Personally, I'm not convinced either way yet. It's definitely a trade-off situation - the relative thin-ness of the unibody vs the power of the quad-core (or dual core) SNB chips. I don't believe any other SNB notebooks are reporting the temperatures of the unibody MBPs - that doesn't indicate a problem by itself of course, but it can bring heat dissipation/efficiency of the unibody into question. Turbo boost also doesn't help matters here much - higher speeds are going to generate more heat on the same platform, that's the way it is. The fact that at least today, MBP owners using an external display can only use the discrete GPU, which causes idle temps of > 70*C, also adds in to the questions. It *may* well be fine. The question is compared to other SNB notebooks, do you think the cooling and overall temps are fine, or not - and there are far too many 'guessing.'

Personally, I would expect any quad core SNB 'laptop' to get got at 100% load, I'm just concerned about long term durability when temps routinely approach 95*C frequently 'enough. In reality, at least so far, my 2011 15" has been the model of reliability, though.
 
I have the 13" Core i5, and it doesn't get hot unless I'm editing video or running heavy apps. If I'm just surfing the web or watching youtube videos, it gets slightly warm, but no where near "hot".
 
rattler said:
I have the 13" Core i5, and it doesn't get hot unless I'm editing video or running heavy apps. If I'm just surfing the web or watching youtube videos, it gets slightly warm, but no where near "hot".
Click to expand...

I have the same and it DOES get hot. Thus my search for this forum. Bought the MBP in March and it was fine. I noticed this past month (after LION install perhaps?) that is was strangely warmer than I had remembered.

No heavy programs - just Chrome or MS Outlook and perhaps another program like iTunes. No editing, no gaming. I reset the power management (power down, unplug the magsafe for 15secs, replug in, wait 5secs, restart) and that seemed to work for a couple of days but I'm back to hot. I read somewhere that Outlook was a resource hog so tested without it running and it still gets hot.

Lots of folks making snarky comments about the heat being normal but it's definitely something I'm noticing as well as a difference from what I had when it was new to now, several months later. Battery life is down to 2hrs as well.

- Time Capsule running perhaps? it's happening outside of the time capsule updates but possible there is a residual memory sump that is taking up memory?

- a bad update? Some folks commented that either it happened after they transitioned to LION or pulled down an update.

- updated hard drive? I installed a 750gb Seagate Momentus which, at 7200rpm, is going to soak more juice but that much?

Any other thoughts on this? I'm happy to take it into Apple but love these forums for collaboration and possible solutions to problems without putting my stuff into someone else's hands.
 
Got my 17" Today actually 2.3Ghz reached like 91C on a cinebench but as soon as the fans kicked to 5.5k RPM the temperature went down so fast it's not funny.Major improvement from non unibody
 
my base model 2011 15" MBP runs 15 degrees Celsius cooler than my 2009 13" MBP with all the same apps, browser and # of tabs open.

very happy with the temps on this new one!
 
proost said:
I have the same and it DOES get hot. Thus my search for this forum. Bought the MBP in March and it was fine. I noticed this past month (after LION install perhaps?) that is was strangely warmer than I had remembered.

No heavy programs - just Chrome or MS Outlook and perhaps another program like iTunes. No editing, no gaming. I reset the power management (power down, unplug the magsafe for 15secs, replug in, wait 5secs, restart) and that seemed to work for a couple of days but I'm back to hot. I read somewhere that Outlook was a resource hog so tested without it running and it still gets hot.

Lots of folks making snarky comments about the heat being normal but it's definitely something I'm noticing as well as a difference from what I had when it was new to now, several months later. Battery life is down to 2hrs as well.

- Time Capsule running perhaps? it's happening outside of the time capsule updates but possible there is a residual memory sump that is taking up memory?

- a bad update? Some folks commented that either it happened after they transitioned to LION or pulled down an update.

- updated hard drive? I installed a 750gb Seagate Momentus which, at 7200rpm, is going to soak more juice but that much?

Any other thoughts on this? I'm happy to take it into Apple but love these forums for collaboration and possible solutions to problems without putting my stuff into someone else's hands.
Click to expand...

Installed SMC Fan Control. Niiiiice! At least I got the temps manageable. :)
 
I use iStats menus to control the fans (like SMC fan control) I heavy CPU tasks I just crank the thing on max speed. :cool:
 
I recently ditched my Macbook Air 11" and got a MBP 13" 2011 with the I7. So far it hasn't gotten hot and this is after a couple hours of running the DVD, using PS Elements and using wireless, flash, etc. It got warm but nothing near what I'd call hot. Now, my late 2009 MBP 17" likes to get toasty on the bottom after a while but not uncomfortably so. No unibody Mac I've used or have currently gets nearly as hot as the Sony I sold which was being replaced by the MBP 17". That thing would get so hot I had to put a towel under it when it was on my lap. No Mac I've used has ever gotten that hot. Now, every laptop I've had without exception has in the past and does currently get warm after a while of use.
 
My base 13 inch 2011 mbP barely even get warm on my lap even when I game in my windows partition. The only time it ever got hot was after playing civilization 5 for a couple hours
 
mac book air hot

I have noticed a hot MBA 1st generation when using lion 10.7.3. On iStat the CPU is running at 70-80% without running applications. The Temp if 65 C.

Very poor performance.

? go back to snow leopard?
 
docnaro said:
I have noticed a hot MBA 1st generation when using lion 10.7.3. On iStat the CPU is running at 70-80% without running applications.
Click to expand...
That is not without running applications. There is obviously some process consuming system resources and causing those temps and CPU utilization.
  1. Launch Activity Monitor
  2. Change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes"
  3. Click on the CPU column heading once or twice, so the arrow points downward (highest values on top).
  4. Click on the System Memory tab at the bottom.
  5. Take a screen shot of the whole Activity Monitor window, then scroll down to see the rest of the list, take another screen shot
  6. Post your screenshots.
 
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